1760 Seale Map of Flanders (Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg)
Flanders-seale-1760
Title
1760 (undated) 12 x 15 in (30.48 x 38.1 cm) 1 : 980000
Description
The Low Countries were on the low-lying delta formed by the convergence of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers. This portion of the Netherlands was known successively as the Habsburg Netherlands, the Spanish Netherlands, and the Austrian Netherlands, until, in 1795, Napoleonic forces invaded and set up a new French client state, the Batavian Republic. The Low Countries, until 1581 part of the Seventeen United Provinces, were reunited by the 1815 Congress of Vienna as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Along with the United Provinces, this area, which hosted the world's first stock exchanges, is considered the birthplace of the modern capitalist economy.
All in all, a very interesting and attractive map of Belgium to appear in the latter half of the 18th century. This map was engraved by R. W. Seale and published in Universal Magazine.
Cartographer
Richard William Seale (December 1703 - May 25, 1762) was an English a mapmaker and engraver active in London during the middle part of the 18th century. Seale was the son of Richard and Elizabeth Seale. Richard, his father, was a member of the Stationers Company, suggesting that printing and engraving must have been a family trade. Nonetheless, he did not learn the trade from his father, but rather from Samuel Parker of Clerkenwell, to whom he was apprenticed in 1719. Seale was extremely active as an engraver and publisher from about 1740 until his death in 1762. His cartographic corpus is vast; including pieces engraved for most other notable English cartographers of his period: Willdey, Baron, Toms, Rocque, Basire, Bowles, Benning, among others. In addition to cartographic work, Seale also produce numerous architectural engravings. More by this mapmaker...